As you grow older you tend to view things in a different light than when you were say 18. Change is inevitable and when you create music like we do that change is bound to be noticeable. Our albums seem to become more and more "pure" Heavy Metal influenced with every release. Like we slowly drift back to our musical roots. Pretty soon we will back in the eighties, spandex and all haha. Hmmm, spandex and corpse paint? There's a thought hehe.

Why did you change from singing in Swedish to English?

Marcus was tired of singing in the Swedish language. I mean there are only so many words in Swedish that you can use to paint our dark canvases with. The English language is so much bigger and also more people will understand what the hell it is your trying to say.

The band is often compared to Cradle Of Filth. What are your reactions to this type of comparison?

I think it’s not 100% fair to be honest. Sure our lyrical base might stem from the same black river as the gentlemen from COF but we are really much more straight forward metal than them. Just look at the use of keyboards, we hardly have any compared to them. To simplify it, you could say that if COF is a rapier, we are a spiked club hehe.

Prior to recording the new album, you lost some key members of the band, though you replaced them, how has this affected the band?

It certainly made us bond more as a band than before. It was hard losing our lead guitar player in the middle of recording the new album, but he wasn't prepared to make the sacrifices that had to be made for the band,

We had no choice but to fire him. In turn this made us re-write half the album to get his parts out of the new music. It was hard but I think we came out stronger because of it.

Speaking of the new album, (which is excellent) How do you think it differs from "Plagued Be Thy Angel".

Well the only thing we said before making the music was that we wanted it to connect more to our older albums than before. I think we succeeded with that. Personally, I feel that the new album is even more musical than "Plagued". The lyrics are more aggressive and we are much happier with the production and layout this time.

What was the biggest challenge in writing and recording the new album?

To fire our lead guitarist and being forced to re-write 50% of the music 2 months before going into the studio was a challenge.

Are there any specific songs that stick out the most as favorites to you as a band?

That is very hard to say because it varies all the time. Every song has its own thing and I'm very pleased with all of them. I think that tracks like "Forged in Flames" and "As Legion Rise" have some great energy in them. I like the vocal performance of Erika on "Remnants of Ruin" and the chorus on "Rebellion" kicks ass. I can go on and on, they are all great songs.

Do you have any plans to tour the USA in support of the album? If so what touring package would be ideal for you as a band and as people?

Touring the US would be great, we have had some talks about doing it but nothing is settled yet. I guess it is also a matter of how well we sell over there since that seems to be the chief interest of the booking agencies. If we were to headline, I'd pick local bands to support us but I wouldn't mind opening for other bands as well. Cradle and Sieben would be a nice package hehe. We really like to play live so we have no problem opening for bigger acts.

You are signed to Napalm Records; in your honest opinion are there any advantages to being on a label such as this?

I can't say I can see any advantage no, can't say I can se any real disadvantage either. Napalm is the only label we have recorded for so I can't really compare it with anything. Musically, Napalm seems to focus more on the Gothic side of late. This album is also the last one on our Napalm contract and we have yet to decide who our future partners will be. Rest assured that Napalm will be offered our next release first though.

How would you describe your overall imagery and sound to someone who has never heard of the band before?

I would describe our music as based in traditional 80's heavy metal with elements of Black/Gothic Metal with Thrash thrown into the mix.

The bulk of your songs deal with the darker side of life and tread dangerously on the verge of being horror, what is it that influences you the most in your writing?

Horror movies and stories play a part of our music of course, but most of the darkness comes from within us. I guess you could say at times, we are not the merriest of people hehe.

What do you hope the listener comes away with after sampling your music?

A feeling of "Wow! Cool! gGive me 10 of those" haha. No seriously, we make the music for ourselves and if other people can get some satisfaction from listening to it then that's cool, if they think its boring crap that's also fine. Of course we like it when we get a great response but we will never make music for anyone else other than ourselves, if we did then we'd be just another product.

Let's shift gears a little bit. Who if any bands in the Black Metal genre inspire you as songwriters and musicians?

I can only speak for myself, being a guitarist that has grown up with the NWOBHM and that kind of stuff; I can tell you that I have not been influenced by any Black Metal band without the exception of Bathory. They were the kings anything after them are simply pale copies.

Are there any other bands outside this genre that you enjoy?

As you might guess from my statement on the previous question there are not many Black Metal bands that stir anything in me at all. I am an all-eater when it comes to Metal, as long as it has something for me, I don't mind what genre it has been labeled as. I listen to anything from W.A.S.P. to Suicidal Tendencies, to Accept to Cradle of Filth and so on.

A few parts of your songs have some Neo-classical elements, was this meant to be picked up on?

Not really, we wanted this album to connect more clearly to our first releases that was the only limit we placed on ourselves before we sat down and wrote the music. Anything else is just bonuses hehe.

Do you guys have day jobs or does Siebenburgen pays the bills?

Well if people bought our albums instead of downloading them, or if the record label paid us a bigger share, then maybe we could live off what Siebenbürgen generate. Sadly that is not so. Also we don't really want to have to be dependant on our music to pay our bills; I think that could be to great an influence on our songwriting.

What can we as fans find you doing on an off day away from the band and music?

Most of us don't come out until nightfall, the sun does bad things to our health. Other than that we are probably doing what most normal people do; drink blood, cut pentagrams on our bodies, engage in carnal lust, collect virgin girls and stay away from garlic. Some people have seen us reading books, watching TV, gaming Xbox/PS2 and making out with our girlfriends as well, but we will categorically deny that.

I am a huge W.A.S.P. fan and I am dying to ask, what made you choose to cover "Animal Fuck Like A Beast"? Are there any other tunes by W.A.S.P. or another band that you'd consider covering?

Hell, most of the old W.A.S.P. songs rock! The first album is a Metal classic that should be mandatory in any Metal heads collection! In fact it should be seen as a certificate for good Metal taste! When ever you check out another Metal heads CDs, look for W.A.S.P. and you know the dude is cool. We did a cover of a Judas Priest song, "Jawbreaker", it’s on the "Plagued be thy Angel" digi-pack. Before we settled on "Jawbreaker", we had talked about Mötley Crüe and Twisted Sister.

What if any advice could you leave our readers?

Advice, advice, hmmm well stay true to yourself, don't follow without thinking first, respect other people, fear nothing and for gods sake buy our album!

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